driveshaft length

wrecked my jeep a couple of months ago. pushed the lca's through their framerail mounts . shoved the front driveshaft through the transfer case . anyway, its done getting pushed and pulled on the frame rack, but i'd like to get it home and do the rest of the work myself.

prob #1- i'm putting in a jb conv. sye (its already done, i'm just gonna have the guy at the shop bolt it in)

prob #2- i'm putting in a ford 8.8 in the rear

prob #3- i'm going from 4.5" to approx. 7" in lift

prob #4- the guy at the shop is impatient cuz he's running behind, and i don't have a driveshaft for him. (but he hasn't put in my t-case, so how am i expected to measure for a new driveshaft?)

now the question.... i did some prelim measurements to GUESS the length of a new rear driveshaft. with the new t-case, ride hieght, and axle, i came to a somewhat educated guess that i'd need about 2 3/4 additional inches in driveshaft length over stock. am i close? any of you have dimensions on yours with similar lift?

BTW - i'm planning on ordering from tom woods. he was suggesting the standard double cardan w/ 1310 u joints, four inches of slip, bla bla bla...

i guess i could just drive it home in 4wd without therear in, but its like 25 miles and would rather not. also, am i correct in assuming that i'll need a new front driveshaft at 7" lift?

I drove home in 4H frt wheel drive, more than 25miles, but only at 4.5". It may not be a length issue for the front as a driveline angle issue. Also, is the 25 miles rough road or good paved roads, if the the roads are good. Gte it home and measusre it up right the first time.

I ran an OEM length front shaft at 8" of lift for a long while - I would drive home on the front shaft and then measure it up at home when the pressure level has dropped a notch or two!

Matt

PS: I forgot to mention I ran on that shaft front wheel drive only for about 2 months at highway speeds ~600 or 700 miles - I think 25 miles will be fine

The problem with front driveshafts is how SHORT you can go.... when the fron axle drops, it swings back towards the tcase.

I'm running a stock front d/s with ~5" of lift, and it's close to full compression when the axle is fully drooped.

I've also run it for a few hundred miles when I had some "issues" with the rear driveshaft.

that's a good point, but i'm running long arms now, so i don't think it should be coming back too far. i hope

anyway, thanks for the input guys. i'll pay the man and drive my jeep back in 4 high tomorrow.